Slide fastener



Jan. 15, 1952 N. J. POUX SLIDE FASTENER Filed Oct. 15, 1948 wag INVENTOR.

el J. Paux.

' A ORNEY.

Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLIDE FASTENER Application October 15, 1948, Serial No. 54,619

This invention relates to slide fasteners, and particularly to an improved means for and method of finishing and reinforcing the ends of the stringer tapes thereof.

In the manufacture of slide fasteners, especially of the type in which the stringers are adapted to be completely separated from each other, as in jacket, sweater, coat, and similar applications, it is desirable that the stringer tape ends be neatly finished and reinforced so as to prevent fraying of the tape ends and-to provide a strong reinforced tape end construction to which the separating end components are, attached.

While various finishing and reinforcing means have been heretofore suggested and used, most of them have been impractical and extremely unsatisfactory in use. One means heretofore suggested was to impregnate the tape ends with a suitable material so as to stifien the same, but such stiffening made the tape relatively stiff and rigid which is objectionable, and also it oftentimes interferes with sewing the stringers to the article with which the fastener is to be used. Other means consisted of folding the tape end backwardly on itself or fOldiIlg' another piece of tape around the tape end and securing it thereto by sewing or by an adhesive, but this is objectionable as the tape end then was too thick and bulky, presentin an unsightly appearance. Such thickness also interfered with the operation of the fastener in that'it tended-to retard the manipulation of the slider thereon. It is also important that the material used to provide the finished tape end does not swell after the fastener is in use so as not to pass between the flanges of the slider, which oftentimes occurs when some of the industrial tapes are used.

Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide an improved means for reinforcing and finishing the ends of stringer tapes which is neat in appearance and strong and rugged and yet extremely flexible in its con struction.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a means which not only reinforces the tape end, but seals the extreme end thereof so as to provide a finished end which will not fray or tear.

It is a further object of this invention to pro vide a reinforced and finished tape end which is substantially the same thickness as the remainder of the tape so as not to'interfere with the operation of the fastener, and which can be easily sewed through without detracting from its strength when incorporated in a garment or other article.

1 Claim. (Cl. 24205.16)

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved method of applying a plastic reinforcing and finishin strip to the tape ends of stringers which is simple and inexpensive as well as efficient and effective thereby reducing to a minimum the manufacturing cost of slide fasteners.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a reinforced and finished tape end to which the component parts of separatin end connections can be easily applied and effectively anchored so as to eliminate any danger of tearing of tapes in the vicinity thereof when the fastener is in use.

Various other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent in the course of the following specification, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown for the purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a conventional type slide fastener, showing my improved reinforcing and finishing means incorporated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the end of a stringer, showing the first step in the application of the reinforcin and finishing strip thereto;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the stringer tape through the reinforcin and finishing strip, showing the heat and pressure applying anvils and the second step in applying the strip;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the stringer, showing the transverse severing of the tape end and reinforcing strip by the cutting knives so as to cut the tape end to length, the next step in my method;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the end of a stringer, showing the reinforcing strip attached thereto;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lower end of a stringer tape, showing'the retainer of the separating end, partly in section;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 1-! of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a side view of a stringer, showing a modified step in the application of the reinforcing and finishing strip of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1, a conventional slide fastener which comprises a series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements 2 attached to opposed beaded edges 3 of the stringer tapes 4. There is arranged on the series of fastener elements, a slider 5 having a pull member 5 pivotally attached thereto by means of which the slider is adapted to be moved longitudinally along the elements to open and close the fastener in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. Such a slider consists generally of a, channeled body member having spaced-apart upper and lower wings which are connected together by means of substantially a V-shaped neck portion so as to provide substantially a Y-shaped channel within the slider body through which the fastener elements pass as they are engaged and disengaged.

There is attached to each of the beaded edges 3 of the stringer at one or usually the upper end of the fastener, a top stop 1 for limiting the movement of the slider in the closed direction. At each end of each of the stringers, there is provided a protruding tape end 8 which extends beyond the top stops 1 at the end of the stringer and below the endmost fastener elements at the other or lower end thereof.

At the lower end of the fastenenthere is arranged a separating end connection for completely separating the fastener stringers at this end. Such a connection consists of an elongated pin member Q which is securely clamped to the beaded edge 3 of one of the stringer tapes 4 along the protruding end portion 8 thereof beyond the endmost fastener element of that stringer. On the other stringer, there is provided a retainer or socket member iii which consists of a similar pin-like member 22 securely clamped to the beaded edge portion of that stringer so as to extend along the protruding end portion 8 thereof beyond the endmost fastener element of the stringer. There is securely clamped over and attached to the pin-like member I2,a substantially U-shaped retainer M which is adapted to receive removably the pin member 9 of the other stringer in a manner well known.

According to the present invention, there is attached securely to each of the protruding end portions 8 at each end of each of the stringers, a reinforcing and finishing strip 15. Each of the strips It is relatively thin and flexible and consists of a tough plastic material, preferably a thin film of nylon, or a non-plasticized material, such as polyethylene, and is folded over and around the beaded edge 3 and tape end 8 of the stringers so that the fold thereof is disposed along the beaded edge with the side portions of the strip being disposed upon the opposed surfaces of the tape and with the edges of the strip extending to the outer edge of the tape. Such plastic materials are used for the reason that they possess the required characteristics in that they can be applied to the tape by heat and pressure and, at the same time, will not impregnate the tape which is one of the most important aspects of the invention. Also, nylon will not be affected by acids nor is it affected by any abrasive action due to laundering, Furthermore, it has been found that such plastic materials do not swell after they have been applied to the tape so as to interfere with the action of the slider and the operation of the fastener.

This finishing and reinforcing strip of plastic material I is applied to the tape in the following manner. The strip is first folded around the beaded edge of the tape in a manner as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The tape end, together with the strip folded therearound, is then placed between two anvils or heating elements l6 and H. as. sh wn in Figand heat and. pr sur ar applied to the tape end and strip so. as to securely a tach h strip to h tape. Th amount of heat and pressure applied is important for the reason that the plastic material should not be heated to its melting temperature, but merely sufiicient enough to force the strip material into the interstices in the outer surface of the tape so that the strip lies substantially in the plane thereof and so that the tape end has substantially the same thickness as the remainder of the tape. It will be noted, as shown in Fig. 3, that the beaded edge portion of the tape around which the strip passes is substantially square or rectangular in shape so as to have substantially square corners thereby providing a better body for the clamping of the pin members 9 and I2 thereto, as shown in Fig. 7. It will, of course, be understood that the reinforcing strips are applied to the tape before the clamping of both the pin members 9 and 12 to the beaded edge of the tape.

After the strip has been secured to the tape end, as above described, the end of the tape is severed preferably by a pair of heated anvils l8 and 19, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, so as to cut the protruding tape end to length and so as to seal simultaneously the extreme end of the tapes, as at 20, so that the tape will not be exposed at the ends thereof thereby preventing any fraying of the tape or any tendency for it to tear.

In Fig. 8 of the drawings, there is shown a modified method of applying the finishing and reinforcing strip l5 to the stringer tape. In this method, a length of reinforcing strip is folded around the beaded edge end tape, as before, with the length of the tape being substantially equal to the distance of the gap space 2! provided generally in a continuous length fastener stringer as is the practice in the manufacture of slide fastener stringers. This is done to provide a reinforced end on the bottom or top of one stringer and on the top or bottom of the next succeeding stringer as the case. may be while the stringers are in a continuous length. After the reinforcing strip has been applied by means of heat and pressure, as shown in Fig. 3, the strip is then severed intermediate the gap space by means of heated knives 22 and 23 which simultaneously sever the strip and seal the ends of the tape as before. By this modified method, it will be seen that there is provided a finishing and reinforcing strip at each end of the stringer thereby reducing considerably the handling of the fasteners and, consequently, reducing the manufacturing costs.

As a result of the present invention, it will be seen that there is provided an improved finishing and reinforcing tape end for slide fasteners which can be conveniently and quickly applied in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of effort and equipment. It will be seen also by the use of such material as nylon, and a non-.plasticized material, such as polyethylene, for the reinforcing strip that a tough and rugged tape end is obtained and also one that does not detract from the appearance of the fastener. Also, such materials will not deteriorate the tape or crack after repeated use and flexing which is another advantage.

While I have shown and described an embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a slide fastener having a series of interlocking fastener elements attached to the opposed beaded edges of a pair of stringer tapes and a slider arranged thereon for longitudinal move Q ment therealong for opening and closing the fastener, a separable end connection disposed be;-

including means for reinforcing and finishing the yond the endmost fastener elements on the tapes ends of the tapes, said means comprising a relaatively thin and flexible strip of material secured r to the opposed surfaces of each of the tape ends including the beaded edges thereof, said strip being of a plastic material and lies in the inter- I stices in the outer surface of the tape and the beaded edges substantially in the plane thereof so that the reinforced tape ends are substan- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,232,640 Schwartzman Feb. 18, 1941 2,438,615 Morin Mar. 30. 1948 

